Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Third Older Woman Says She Was Stripped By The TSA At JFK
By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 6, 2011
Modified Dec 6, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published Dec 6, 2011
Modified Dec 6, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Another day, another older woman comes forward with tales of woe from the TSA! Say hello to Linda Kallish, 66, of Boynton Beach, Florida, who says that she too was forced to take her clothes off by TSA agents at JFK Airport while trying to leave after the Thanksgiving holidays. In fact, she says she was made to strip while trying to board the same flight as 85-year-old alleged TSA-victim Lenore Zimmerman. Kallish is now the third woman to say she was stripped by TSA agents at JFK that weekend.
Kallish's troubles began because of the glucose monitor and insulin pump she wears because of her diabetes. After she set off the metal detector she was sent to a private room and, she says, told to take her pants off. She says the officer didn't touch her. "So I took my pants off and showed [the glucose monitor] to her," Kallish said. "She just looked at it and said, 'Have a nice trip.'"
What bothered Kallish, though, she says, is "that while waiting to be screened, her medical items went through the metal detector and moved out of her sight, and she wasn't allowed to retrieve them."
"The whole thing is lousy," she told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I've have never had to do that before. I have flown many times before, and I have never had to take my pants down." She says the TSA sent her a "stock e-mail, saying they were sorry for any inconvenience."
The TSA, for its part, says that it is now investigating this case too. Meanwhile, on its blog, it emphasizes that "TSA does not include strip searches in its protocols" and gives its own version of the events that led to Lenore Zimmerman being stripped. But anyway? They insist that treating grannies like terrorists is what they we, as a nation, have to do in this terrifying age of terrorizing terrorists practicing terrorism, pointing out this story "about a group of elderly men who were planning on using toxic ricin against U.S. citizens, U.S government and officials."
Tagged
granny attack
JFK
jfk airport
strip search
transportation security administration
tsa
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .